Spinners and gaming wheels are commonly used as amusement devices either alone or with other apparatus such as game boards or playing cards. The spinners can be as simple as a piece of cardboard with a rotating pointer or as complicated as a carnival fortune wheel having pegs separating the outer periphery of the wheel into segments and with a finger that rides on the pegs stopping to point out the winning segment. The traditional carnival fortune wheel produces a characteristic clicking sound as the finger rides over the pegs drawing the attention and interest of the spectators to the winning segment.
This invention is directed to a toy spinner which uses sequentially flashing lights to duplicate the rotational movement of a pointer and also provides a clicking sound characteristic of a carnival-type fortune wheel. The final resting place of the pointer is indicated by a light that remains on for a short interval after the flashing light pointer comes to a rest.
An object of this invention is a toy spinner which replaces the conventional pointer or clicking finger with lights that appear to flash in rotational sequence to mimic the action of a rotating pointer.
Another object of this invention is a spinner which sequentially illuminates a series of lamps to provide a circular motion of a flashing lamp using a single, rotating bulb.
Another object of this invention is a rotating sequence of flashing bulbs that mimics the movement of a pointer which can be rotated either clockwise or counterclockwise.
Another object of this invention is a spinner in which the rotation thereof activates an electrical circuit which remains activated after the spinner stops for a dwell period to indicate to the players by a lighted lamp which segment the pointer has stopped at.
Another object of this invention is a spinner which can be used with a game board and markers in which the players select markers for placement on the game board in accordance with the stopping position of the pointer.
Another object of this invention is a spinner which can be made to resemble a conventional item such as a birthday cake, a clock, a compass, etc.
Other objects may be found in the following specification, claims and drawings.